Improvement in printing or embossing plug-tobacco



D. W. De'FOREST.

PRINTING on EMBOSSING PLUG-TOBACCO.

No; 191,841. I Patented J'une12,1 8 77 DAVID W. DE FOREST, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO BUCHANAN 8t .LYALL,

PATENT Orrron.

on NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN PRINTING OR EMBOSSING PLUG-TOBACCO.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 19 [,841. dated June 12, 1877; application filed 1 April 25, 1877.

,ficulty exists in stamping or embossing the tobacco in such a manner that the mark will not be obliterated by the pressure of one plug 7 against the next when in the boxes used for storing or shipment.

My invention is made for the purpose of printing the surface of each plug of tobacco, so that the mark will be permanent, regardless of the conditions in which the plug-tobacco may exist previous to sale and use.

I make use of a stencil embossing-plate, cut out with the letters, marks, or design to be embossed upon the plug of tobacco, and I insert the same between one plug of tobacco and the next, hence when the plug is subjected to pressure in the manufacture, the tobacco will expand into the stencil and make a perma nent mark upon the tobacco, and these stencil embossers are allowed to remain between the plugs of tobacco in order that the embossing may not be subsequently obliterated, but by the time the plugs are separated and sold, the tobacco becomes so dry and set that the embossed characters remain, whether the stencilembosser adheres to the plug or falls away from the same.

In the drawing, Figure *1 represents the plug with the stencil embosser upon its face, and Fig. 2 is a section of thersame. V

This stencil embosseris represented as made with the letters B and L, but any desired letters, designs, or characters may be used. The sheets of paper or other suitable material used for these stencil embossers are to be cut out by suitable dies, similarly to a stencil-plate, and simply laid into the mold in which the plug is pressed, or between one plug and the next, before the consolidating pressure is applied.

It will be apparent that the tobacco itself is marked, and that the stencil is the means for marking, and the mark remains after the stencil is removed; hence the stencil can be taken off at any proper or convenient time and the mark or print remains. Generally the stencil will be allowed to remain until the tobacco is sold at retail, as it will cost more to remove the stencils than their value. It will often be preferable to use sheets of stencil-paper be- .tween the different layers of tobacco as they are packed into the box, the stencil-openings being so positioned as to mark the respective plugs.

I am aware that labels for tobacco and other materials have been made of thin paper, either printed or cut out with dies, and that sheet metal has been used for a similar purpose, with small raised or cut letters, but in these instances the label became the mark, and if it fell 011' or became separated the tobacco itself was not legibly marked.

I claim as my invention- The herein described improvement in perma nently printing or embossingplug-tohacco in the process of its manufacture, consisting in compressing the plugs upon inter-laid embossing-plates, that remain between the plugs, after pressure, until the tobacco sets and hardens,

so as to produce a permanent and legible mark in the surface of the tobacco, substantially as set forth. I

Signed by me this 6th day of April, A. D. 1877.

DAVID WM. DE FOREST. Witnesses: GEO. T. PINCKNEY,

CHAS. E. SMITH. 

